Composite reenforced railway tie



May 24 1.927' c. w. LEE

COMPOSITE REENFORCED RAILWAY TIE Filed Jan. 13, i927 n MVWY y 15 tionthereof.

Patented May 24, 1927.

UNITED STATES gPATENT oFF-ICE.

CHARLES W. LEE, E Loox HAVEN, PENNSYLVANIA.

Y COMPOSITE BEENFORCED RAILWAY TIE.

Application led January 13,1922. Serial No. 160,880.

i The invention relates to railway ties and has vfor its principalobject the provision of a tie vthat will replace the ,wooden ties Anow fcommonly used and that will add to the length of life of railway ties,avoidino' replacement, and at vthe same time will iave the advantages ofa wooden tie in providing a tie that would include a wooden support forthe rail enclosed within a reenforced plastic shell, the wooden supportfor the raill contributing a cushion effect of the woo-den tie, and thereenforced plastic shell preventing the contact'of the wooden portionwith thel ground andthe consequent disintegra- .Y Vsions secured to theends of the portion surrounding the insert.

The invention will be described in detail hereinafter and will be foundillustrated'in the accompanying drawings in which Figure leis a top planview of a railway tie madein accordance with the invention,

.Figure 1, y y

kFigure 3 a transversesectional view on a vplane Vindicated by thelinefS-S of Figure y '1, and

, Figure 4 a horizontal sectional view onal plane indicated by the line4:*4 of Figure 2.4 ,45 In the `drawings similar reference characterswill be used to designate correspond ing parts throughout the severalkview-s.

The improved railway ytie comprises a shell l preferably of plasticmaterial such foruinstance asconcrete, glass or anyv other Figure 2 is alongitudinal sectional view on a plane indicated by the line 2-2 offibrous material extending longitudinally of suitable material havingembedded in the upper face thereof an elongated block of fibrousmaterial, preferably wood, nated 2, and of suiicient length to kreceivethe spaced rails of a `railway track. The

Vshell 1 is reenforced by means of'a reenforcing member generallydesignated 3, and consisting of a rectangular frame member 4 enclosingthe sides and ends of the block 2 and bolted orotlierwise securedthereto as under the block 2 and having upturned desig- 6() shown at 5,and one or more rods 6 arranged ends 7 secured to the ends of the frameil.

The reenforcing member 3 is preferably made of spirally twisted rods asshown in the; drawing to insure intimate engagement of the reenforcingmember 3 with theplas- 4 tic material in 'casting the tie.

It will be understood that in making the*v l tie the reenforcing-member3 is secured to the wooden bloclr 2 by the fastening members 5 andtheblock and reenforcing memberare then arranged in therplastic material isplaced which en-` velops the sides and ends and bottom of thel block 2and encloses the reenforcing member 3, so that when the plasticmaterialhardens a composite tie is provided having aV shell 1, asV heretoforedescribed, ,enclosing and-supporting the bloclr2, and when in `positionunder the rails the block 2 by supporting the rails provides a cushionsupport therefor, and as the shell l protects the sides and ends and thebottom of the block 2 from the weather and contact with the ground,thelife of the tie will be considerably prolonged.A

What is claimed is A railway tie, comprising a block of the tie andterminating adjacent to the ends thereof, a shell of plasticmaterialenclosiiig f the ends, sides and bottom of the block andconstituting therewith the tie aforesaid, areand secured thereto, and arodV located under ing the ends of the frame.

a mold into which (the block and having upturned ends engag- Intestimonywhereof-I affix my signature.

CHARLES W. LEE. n

